Together with his colleague Clyde Cowan, Frederick Reines is responsible for detecting and proving the existence of the previously hypothesized neutrino. After discovering this elementary particle, Dr. Reines devoted the major part of his career to understanding the neutrino's properties and interactions. This volume of work led to the vast enrichment of the knowledge of the role of the neutrino not only in the context of elementary particle physics, but also in astrophysical processes. Dr. Reines significant "firsts" include: the first detection of neutrinos produced in the atmosphere; the study of muons induced by neutrino interactions underground; the first observation of the scattering of electron antineutrinos with electrons; the detection of the weak neutral current interactions of electron antineutrinos with deuterons; investigations searching for neutrino oscillations (the possibility of neutrino transformations from one type to another); and the first detection of neutrinos from a supernova.
Dr. Reines received his undergraduate degree in engineering in 1939 and a M.S. in mathematical physics in 1941 from Steven Institute of Technology. He completed his Ph.D. at New York University in 1944. In addition to the Franklin Medal in 1991, Dr. Reines won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1995. Dr. Reines died in 1998.
Information as of 1998